City of Davenport, Iowa

8:30 A.M.

City Council Chambers, City Hall, 226 West 4th Street

I. Budget Workshop Recap & Preview of City Administrator Recommended Budget

II. Goal & Task Review

III. Putnam & GDRC Funding, Sewer Rate

IV. FY15 Reporting & FY16 Planning & Process Improvements

Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa

Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee

On the nomination of Kevin Techau

to be United States Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Mr. President,

I'd like to share a few words of support of Kevin Techau, to be United States Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa.  Mr. Techau received his undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa in 1981, and his J.D. from the University of Iowa in 1984.  Mr. Techau also has a distinguished military career.  He served in the United States Air Force as a Judge Advocate from 1985 until 1992.  While serving in the base legal office he provided legal counsel on a broad array of issues including federal laws, employment law, medical malpractice claims and criminal prosecution.

As a circuit defense counsel, he served as lead attorney in major felony cases in European and Eastern United States Circuits representing United States Air Force airmen in court-martial cases involving charges brought under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Mr. Techau joined the Iowa National Guard in 1993 and served until 2011.

In 1992, Mr. Techau joined the firm of Grefe & Sidney in Des Moines, Iowa.  As an associate attorney, the primary focus of his practice was in civil litigation.  From 1996 until 1999, Mr. Techau served as a federal public defender for Iowa.  His practice as a public defender was both at the trial and appellate level, and he has tried cases in the U.S. federal courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Mr. Techau was appointed to the position of Director of Inspections and Appeals for Iowa in 1999, and in 2002 was appointed as Commissioner of Public Safety for Iowa.

Since 2007, he has been Associate General Counsel at American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company.  There he handles litigation management for the company.  Throughout his career, Mr. Techau has demonstrated his commitment to serving the people of Iowa and the United States.

Finally, let me just add that I've known the Techau family for decades and I know Mr. Techau personally.  He's even been a running partner of mine from time to time.  He is a man of fine character and commitment.  I believe he will serve as United States Attorney with distinction and honor.  I urge my colleagues to vote "yes" on this nomination.

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Davenport, Iowa (February 12, 2014) - A floor-to-ceiling curtain of sculpted and fused clear glass will be on display at the Figge Art Museum beginning Saturday. Landscape: Ingalena Klenell and Beth Lipman is on loan to the Figge from the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington and will be on view in the second floor print gallery.

The exhibition is a collaboration between artists Ingalena Klenell of Sweden and Beth Lipman of Wisconsin in which pieces of glass are suspended from the ceiling and rise up from the floor to create a translucent landscape curtain. Their use of transparent glass emphasizes the romanticism inherent in 19^th century landscapes, as well as the fragility of nature as we understand it today.

Showcasing cutting edge technology, Landscape is unique in the world of glass. "We are thrilled to have this extraordinary exhibition at the Figge and are eager for people to see it in person to fully appreciate all the intricate details and remarkable talent on display," said Executive Director Tim Schiffer.

Both artists will be in the Quad Cities on February 20 and visitors are invited to the museum for a FREE Gallery Talk at 7 p.m. to hear first-hand the techniques used to create Landscape.

Sponsored locally by Andy & Debi Butler, Cottingham & Butler and SISCO, the exhibition will be on display through May 25, 2014.

Companion Programming:

Landscape Member Reception and Gallery Talk

Thursday, February 20
5:30 p.m. Reception / 7 p.m. Gallery Talk
Join artists Ingalena Klenell and Beth Lipman for a discussion of the ideas and techniques at work in Landscape.

FREE Family Day

10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, February 22

$5 Burger baskets, Dining Room

Kids and their big people can explore the amazing world of art through video and glass!

 

Landscape Exhibition Tours

1:30 p.m. Saturdays • March 1, 15

1:30 p.m. Sundays • March 2, 23

 

About the Figge Art Museum

The Figge Art Museum is located on the riverfront in downtown Davenport at 225 West Second Street. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday and Sundays 12-5 p.m. Thursdays the museum is open until 9 p.m. Admission to the museum and tour is $7. Admission is free to Figge members and institutional members and free to all on Thursday evenings from 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. To contact the museum, please call 563.326.7804, or visit www.figgeartmuseum.org.

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Also ... Meet Nate!

DES MOINES, Iowa - Today, Iowa Secretary of State candidate Brad Anderson announces his plan to modernize Iowa's business filing system by allowing new businesses to easily file a new business and pay online within minutes.

The Iowa Secretary of State Business Services Division is the records center for businesses and business filings in Iowa.  Last October, according to the most recently available public information from the Secretary of State's office, 1,497 new Iowa business filings were filed with the Secretary of State's office. 

More than 1,000 new businesses are filed in Iowa each month, yet Iowa currently has one of the most outdated business filing systems in the Midwest. New businesses in Iowa are forced to endure a complicated maze of electronic downloads, fax machines, phone calls and snail mail, and then wait days to receive their filings in the mail.  This process adds time and expense to new Iowa businesses, and stands in stark contrast to Secretary of State filing systems in Missouri and Minnesota where new businesses can easily file and pay online within minutes.

"New businesses created in Iowa will help us grow our economy and bring jobs to our state, so it is incredibly important that we have a business filing system that is welcoming, affordable and efficient," said Brad Anderson. "The current system is bureaucratic, complicated and requires new business owners to pay a filing fee with a credit card over the phone then wait for days to receive the filing in the mail.  This process must be modernized if Iowa wants to promote a strong, pro-business climate. My goal is simple - a new business should be able to log into the Secretary of State's website and easily file their paperwork and pay the filing fee in under ten minutes."

MEET NATE:

Nate Reagen and his wife Erin are small business owners from Des Moines who recently filed for a new business in the Secretary of State's office.  The process consisted of: determining the correct filing among several options, having to draft and upload their own documentation, calling the Secretary of State's office with their credit card information only to receive a letter and handwritten note in the mail several business days later stating the credit card had been declined.  In actuality, the office had written down the wrong credit card number.  Upon calling back, the Secretary of State's office instructed Nate to hang up, resubmit the paperwork and call back (a third time) with credit card information. 

"I went through this process living in Minnesota and we were able to do everything pretty easily online," said Reagen.  "I was pretty surprised to see how difficult the process is in Iowa and I strongly support Brad's effort to modernize and simplify the process.  This is not a partisan issue at all; it is really more about finding a common sense solution to a cumbersome and tedious business filing process."

ANDERSON 3-STEP PLAN TO MODERNIZE IOWA BUSINESS FILINGS:

• Step #1: Create an Online Checklist to Help New Business Owners Determine Which Filing is Needed for Their Business. There are currently many different types of business filings on the Secretary of State website, but little information to help new, prospective business owners determine which filing is needed for their business.  We should develop an online checklist to easily help new business owners determine the appropriate filing for their new business.


• Step #2: Create an Online Filing Template for New Business Owners. Today, new business owners are left on their own, or must hire a lawyer to draft their business filings required to be filed with the Secretary of State's office to start a new business.  For example, if an individual wants to start a business and create a certificate of organization to file with the state, the Secretary of State website simply directs the individual to the Iowa code, which is filled with legal jargon complicated text, such as "section 489.112, subsection 3."  This is unhelpful and could actually discourage some from taking further steps necessary to start a business.  Moving forward, the Secretary of State office must provide an online template that allows new business owners to simply plug in their information.  A user-friendly template will save time and money for the prospective filer.


• Step #3: Pay Online. In the year 2014, there is no excuse to have a filing system of any kind that doesn't allow the filer to pay online.   In many cases the current process requires the a prospective new business owner to call the Secretary of State's office and pay with a credit card over the phone.  A simple, electronic payment system is more secure for the consumer and would lead to fewer processing issues with the office.  Ultimately, an online payment system would enhance safety and save both the filer and the state time and money.

Within Anderson's first 100 days in office he will create a bipartisan commission made up of business owners, technology experts and interested parties to develop a business filing modernization plan to be implemented as soon as possible.